A chance to buy Ebony’s photos of history

A few years ago, I was walking past the greeting cards section of a department store when I saw Ebony magazine covers on several cards. I had never seen any before and was delightfully surprised.

Now I hear that Johnson Publishing Co., which is trying hard to pull itself out of a financial mire, is selling photographic prints from its archives for as low as $35. Now, that’s a bargain.

Chairman Linda Johnson Rice told Crain’s Chicago Business newspaper that she had chosen 2,000 of Ebony’s one million photographs to sell to the public. The magazine and its slew of photographers, including the notable Moneta Sleet Jr.,have been showing us the true image of black America since John H. and Eunice Johnson started it in the 1940s.

Ebony and Jet magazines were read religiously in many African American homes, never discarded but kept and and stored away. This one with Martin Luther King Jr. on the cover was among several from one woman's treasures sold at auction.

Intrigued, I checked out the offerings, which are being sold through an online site called art.com, which specializes in selling artwork for the home.

This is the first time that the company has sold photos from its archives to just anybody. It had previously offered them through licensing agreements with companies, according to bizjournals.com. That’s apparently what it did with the American Greetings cards, I presume.

On the Ebony pages at art.com, the photos were grouped into categories – from best sellers to historical figures to famous personalities. You can even buy selected magazine cover photos from as far back as 1948. Or browse Linda Johnson’s curated collection, which seemed to contain some of the same photos as the other categories.

This isn't one of the Ebony covers for sale, but I do love this photo of Marvin Gaye from a 2008 commemorative issue.

Here are some of the photos that caught my eye:

Coretta Scott King and Rosa Parks in an undated photo.

Scenes from the Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1955-1956 (a man filling a car with gas, a cab driver posing in his Good Service taxi, a group photo outside a church, several of Martin Luther King Jr. on a bus, standing outside his church, and giving interviews).

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Book Me to Speak on “Historical Treasures in Your Home”

Our houses are filled with memorabilia and artifacts that are part of our family's history and legacy. But far too often we don't know what we have or assume it's worth very little or nothing.

What valuable items are in your home or a family member's home?

I can show you what to look for, how to research its market value online, how to get it appraised by a licensed appraiser, and whether to keep it, donate it or sell it.

Contact me for a presentation before your group or organization, and have everyone to bring along an item to be evaluated. This flyer shows some items that have sold at auction.

About Sherry Howard

I started going to auctions to fuel my love for African American art – but at a bargain. I love the old masters: Lois Mailou Jones, Jacob Lawrence, Hughie Lee-Smith. I wanted to find their works and discover other veteran artists whose works may have been hiding in an attic or basement, and forgotten.

I’m a journalist by profession: I was a newspaper reporter and editor. Now, I’m taking what I did as a journalist – peeling back the covers of people’s lives and writing about what I found – and applying it to auctions. And I’m loving it.

Visit me often to see what I come up with. I would also like to share stories and photos of what you find and your collections. Click my Contact page.

What is my stuff worth?

Here are some tips for things you can do on your own to help determine what your items are worth:

First, try the web. Search for items similar to yours.
Go to the library or browse at a bookstore. Look through price and collector's guides pertaining to your item.
Get a free or reduced-price appraisal. Find local auction houses in your town and check their websites to see if they offer these quick appraisals. You can find auction houses near you via auctionzip.com.Pay for a real appraisal. This could be your last step or your first step (if you have an item that you already know is valuable).

You can get more detailed information on each of these tips in my blog post on the subject.